This howling, ripping, roaring thunderclap of a show stands testament to the brilliance of what the acid test house band was up to in 1968. Only a fraction of their performances from that year were recorded, but we can listen to what’s available and infer that it may very well have been the best year in Grateful Dead history. Was 6/14/68 typical of the year? It's difficult to say with such a small sample size. But when you stack it against its Anthem-era siblings from the winter Pacific Northwest tour and the October Avalon shows, their Fillmore East debut is undoubtedly on the more extreme side; frothing out boiling feedback and detonating Phil bombs of mercurial magnitude, throwing Caution, reason, and limits to the New York wind.

Unlistenable for some, irresistible for others, this is one hour of gourmet psychedelic primal dead.

There's a nice essay by Ben Dyment about this show at Grateful Dead Guide:

http://deadessays.blogspot.jp/2018/02/buzz-saw-music-fillmore-east-june-14.html

Let's hope a better copy of this surfaces. My ears find this one unlistenable, despite the obvious good night the musicians are having.

As I've noted before, a friend of mine and I recorded that show. This is that tape. In those days, we didn't know what might happen--we hadn't heard the post Anthem material-- so we stayed on the same side of the tape to begin set 2. They came out and played a truncated Dark Star--maybe 8 minutes. The unprepared audience did not care for this noodling thing--they wanted rock and roll. The band basically stopped and, after a brief pause, went into Feedback. We flipped the tape just in time. It's been 45 years. I have no idea where the rest of the cassette is or why only the second side survived. The tape is weak, but the show was great.

And dripping.

In your face, primal '68 Dead serving a very tasty Feedback sandwich.

What'd the dormouse say?

During my perilous journey of listening to every dead show in the archive this is the first show with personal meaning. My dad always told me about this crazy show at the Fillmore where Rod Stewart and the Faces had just killed the audience and the place was absolutely electric. Then the dead came on and deafened the crowd. He spoke so highly of this show and I may never know what the show really felt like, I get to hear it. Five stars for the tunes, and the love.

I was at this show and they did open with feedback, which spurred more than a few people to leave the building. Not me. This was my first Dead concert, the weekend after I got out of the Army I wandered into the Filmore East and got my mind blown. It was truly a wild and magical night. I had listened to the Dead and had the first album, but they weren't my favorite band by any stretch. I was actually more into the Airplane at that time.

The Jeff Beck group was on before the Dead and they blew the doors off the place. We're talking about Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck, Nicky Hopkins, Ron Wood, and Ansley Dunbar on drums. The band was tight, powerful, and played an outstanding 2-½ hour set, including an incredible version of Morning Dew. The band was so good they were written up in either Time or Newsweek because of their performance and were being compared to Rolling Stones by at least one of the critics.

The Dead opened with very weird and wild Feedback and then settled into a jam which was so different from what the previous group played that it didn't invite any comparisons. In fact, it was hard to believe it came from the same universe. I remember how blown away I was, having never seen them before and how weird it was. The stage seemed kind of dark and grungy, like a scene out of "Wharf Rat" or something. Other than the feedback, I don't remember much about the specifics of the Dead's show. Now, it's all floating visions of the band, the audience, the light show and bits of songs, Alligator, St. Stephen, Lovelights. I’d never heard any of these songs before so it was all new to me.

At that time, the music seemed so wild, strange and energetic to me, and probably also to the scores of people who left the theatre during the set because the music was so weird. Listening to it now, even after seeing the Dead numerous times and hearing hundreds of recordings, I realize it really was as wild and unbridled as I remember. In fact, it is considered to be one of the wildest shows the Dead ever put on (see Deadlists description). I didn't realize how unique that first show was until I started going to more shows. Then I started thinking, wow, that first show really was pretty crazy.

What I remember most was the way they looked. Just coming back form a year and a half stationed in Germany, I had heard about the San Francisco scene and I had some albums, but seeing Garcia in full Captain Trips garb, Weir with that long, long hair he used to have, Lesh with his little round hippie sunglasses, the two drummers, and 'Pig' looking like some biker dude who just dropped in to jam with the hippies, this was San Francisco to me. It all made for or an outstanding evening and helped to make me a lifelong Deadhead (and move to SF within a couple of years). Since the second show didn't start until midnight, it was nearly dawn when it finally ended. It was truly a memorable night. But then again, that' true for most people's first Dead show. 

Oh yesss....turn the feedback way up to 13....blow every F*****'n speaker you got its worth it....oh thank you you thank you thank you....Come on Sirius play This Day in History on the 5pm drive home.....The Grateful Dead...BEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND EVER (period).

Geez, that "Feedback->Eleven" is like finding the lotus feet of the Lord.

Was just going through my collection and listened to the SBD Caution bonus from this show found on the Filmore West 1969 - The Complete Collection, and thought damn, I need more of this show. Thoroughly enjoyed and am happy to have this Aud. Tape but sure would love to find the rest of the soundboard that obviously exists.

I did compare the SBD 30:07 long version of Caution to what was on this aud. tape and found the following:

The SBD includes approximately the last 20 seconds of Lovelight, the full 24:28 of Caution, the 4:00 of Feedback and approximately 50 seconds of additional crowd noise, Bob thanking the crowd, Phil saying good night and Bill Graham introducing the band members including Bill Summers aka Kreutzmann.

So I'm thinking the show did open with Feedback or it was at least not tied to the last Caution/Feedback.

Btw, just love this Caution/Feedback. A definite highlight in a show that is just one big highlight!!!!!

garage recording but possibly one of the greatest Stephen's ever-check it out:-))

Just wondering about this. I had an old discussion with Jim Stevens (?) about this at gdlists. On my old cassette tape of this show I was aware that the Feedback at end of tape made a pretty seamless transition to the Feedback (supposedly) at the beginning of the tape. This led me to believe that the Feedback didn't open the show but was somewhere buried deep in the guts of the show. I'm guessing somewhere along the line tape copiers fit what they had of this monumental show as best they could on to a 90 min. tape. I always wanted to make my own tape combining the (end-of-tape) Feedback with the (beginning-of-tape) Feedback to make a complete Feedback. Maybe someone who has the bonus CD can verify the length/completeness of my Caution>Feedback (not the opener but all there at once) theory.
Thanks and Grateful Blessings to all. My first show was one night of either5/31 or 6/1/1968. They opened with Mornin' Dew.

This is one of the first St. Stephens: Deadbase says it is the third performance.
Sounds like they hadn’t worked it all out yet. It’s interesting to hear.

Interesting that this set starts and ends with feedback. Kind of a feedback sandwich. The feedback>Eleven>St. Stephen is a rare combination.

Alligator transitioning into Lovelight is also unusual. The Alligators is good, but it’s not an exceptional Lovelight, though, as it gets stuck in the middle.
Caution is great. The ending feedback seems to have form and structure, with a beginning and conclusion: a musical composition.

The audio is pretty bad terrible. Vocals are barely audible, with a lot of clipping.
Show 4, recording 1.

Check out the shows from February and March ’68 for excellent shows and audio.

This kind of recording is the payoff for being a hardcore deadhead. It's as though you've been handed a secret that gets passed about in shadows and only acknowledged through nods. The band doesn't just open, they open the Maw of Time and push you in. Even on this dirty distorted hand me down tape, the impact pulses through. Perhaps it's because of the lo-fi that I love it so much, but a crappy recording of a great show aces the inverse. The Caution is a bit too much to take and the feedback inevitable. In the end there is no gentle let down back to earth, no lullaby or singalong. There is only the humming of your cells reconstructing themselves back into a familar form that differs in some intangible way...

I can't imagine how many destinies this little show changed.

Highly recomended
Use wisely

I dare any punk, post punk, noise, or garage band to come anywhere near the violent danger oozing out of the speakers from this show. Posers beware. Now I realize why there isn't a SB recording. It is way too powerful. Hippy shit my ass!

Yes, according to my title, this show is run-of-the-mill 68 material...which means this is some GOOD SHIT!!! Even the bad shows of this year are worth at least 4 stars. This one is average for the year, with an absolutely mind-numbing Caution. I would reccommend wearing "Depends" while listening because it might make you shit yourself.

This is an AUD, but the energy still comes through. The sound is pretty good considering it's an old AUD.

ok..you could cut this on your EQ.....
here and there----
forget it.....damn good sound...!!!
i'll listen to these again,thanks--

dead

After 10 seconds of streaming this show, I started downloading it, and I tend to be a SBD snob. The quality is bearable, you get used to it, and the payoff is the incredible energy of this performance. Remember(or open a book)it's June '68. The war rages, MLK & RFK have been assassinated, civil unrest everywhere. In the middle of this, the cavalry comes to the rescue with guitars, drums, and amplifiers. It sounds like it might be a tad fast, but it's not the chipmunks. AUDS of this vintage are an acquired taste, but having attempted taping a few in the early 70's, this is far better than anything I was able to accomplish. Thanks to those responsible. Thanks also for the info. pertaining to the "bonus" disc. A solid 4 stars. Check it out.

That jamming on the guitar at the end of St.Stephen is why I started playing.
It's very sad to know that that kind of inspiration is going to be gone in 20-40years.

THEY don't make people like that anymore.

Isn't it understandable that the piper of the
jamming at the end of St.Stephen would've died of a heart attack?

Again, they don't make people like that anymore.

...just thought I should tell you that the SBD for this legendary show has finally turned up!

Well, somewhat at least...the bonus CD included with the Live Dead Boxed Set (as well as orders from gdstore of the 3-CD compilation from the Fillmore '69 shows) begins with a metal-melting "Caution (Do Not Stop On Tracks)" that is cryptically labelled as being from "6/68" with no further information. Given that the CD purports to be comprised exclusively of material taken from Carousel Ballroom and Fillmore West shows between '68-'70 (and given that June '68 is a notorious gap in our recorded record of the GD) you'd be forgiven for thinking this comes a previously unknown show - after all, Deadlists shows a series of shows from the Carousel at the beginning of June.

It doesn't! It actually comes from this classic 6/14/68 Fillmore East show, something that was instantly apparent to me (it fades in as Jerry is bringing the band out of "Lovelight"). And it sounds absolutely FANTASTIC in remastered, crystal-clear SBD.

Unfortunately, according to David Lemieux it is the only fragment of the show that exists on the tape - the rest has been wiped. Heartbreaking, really, that the rest of this seems to have been permanently lost to SBD, but if you want to hear the great "Caution" > "Feedback" sequence from this most classic of Primal shows, you owe it to yourself to get your hands on a copy of that bonus disc.

As for this AUD, I've reviewed it once already, and my five stars remains five stars now.

Yes!Drippy and trippy to say the least! Go Boys! Thnx taper,AUDS rule!5performance 3+ recording 5+song list(68AUD by gosh!)

This is SICK!!!! If only the audio was better quality. But the playing is just on fire....and really f-ing far out at times. I've never heard anything like this!

Yeoow. Everyone is right. This is different. I haven't listened to the Carousel show yet. The sound is really not bad considering. Yes, as a previous head stated, I do have an old school ear from years of picking sounds out of bootlegs of suspicious quality but, I can pretty much hear everything I need to get a good feel for this mother jam. I have always preferred "Feedback" to what became the infamous and in some cases obligatory "Space". This show offers an opening screamer feedback and the well known (somewhat melodic) closing feedback that offtimes led to We Bid You Goodnight. Frequently when pressed into a short set the band would rise to the occasion with some real intensity. They do not disappoint here. A must listen/have.

>what is contained on this one disc of nirvanna , blessingly provided by the gods to the archive.

This is truely one show which should not be judged or rated by the quality of the recording.
Which actually is not bad at all by '68 audience recording standards...in fact IMHO, its actually quite good, considering the one element that is key is the loudness of jerry , which there is an abundance of.

Anybody with an "old school" ear should be able to listen easily, and appreciate the insanity of this performance.
First Fillmore East show!?!...68!?!...Feedback opener and closer!?!...20 min. caution!?!--w/ pigs ripping harp all in the mix!?!
----are you f--ing kidding me?!?!?!
i could write a novel about the raw power and energy channeled by the boys in this show.
jerry is literally unconscious and on another plane of existance the whole time.
Hands down the hottest prolonged section of playing that i've ever heard.
Front to Back , this is sickness. plain and simple.
If I were the guy that recorded this (-god bless his soul!) i might of been AFRAID to even listen to this afterwards from fear of melting from looking upon the arc of the covenant or something like that. I might of just buried it in a steel box w/ a label, saying -"don't open until after the Rapture".

Don't touch, -you will get Burned!
slim.

Except for a few minutes in the middle of a really hot Viola Lee, I've never heard the Dead play like this! It's not just the sound quality--sure, it leaves a lot to be desired--but these guys are intentionally going for hardcore dissonance and raw noise! Somebody said this show may have been influenced by the Jeff Beck set earlier in the evening. Sounds to me more like somebody'd turned them on to some MC5, Stooges or Velvet Underground, or maybe just some really raunchy drugs. If that sounds good, download now. If, on the other hand, you're looking for some mellow trippy groove, you might wanna pass on...

I don't know any '68 show with a longer or better Caution/Feedback or such unique transitions (Space>The 11>St.Stephen and especially Alligator>Lovelight>Caution!). 6/19/68 was very far out, like this show, but this one is more coherent in terms of the setlist.
Although the performances and setlist are both top-notch, the sound quality is positively abysmal. The drums and Bobby are almost inaudable, Phil barely audible, and the vocals buried. Jerry is the only member that can be heard relatively clearly. But hey it was 1968, and live recording technology was primitive.
But listen to this several times and it grows on you. 'Nuff said.

Being a taper myself, i can truly appriciate a 68 AUD recording. I mean, its not the best, but for 68, we are all so lucky to even hear it again. Do any of you other tapers ever daydream about getting in a time machine w/ you current taping rig, and going back to this era, ahhhhh what dreams are made of. We ARE ALL so lucky to have this. Anyways, in the past 6 months or so i have watched my GDead collection go from very large, to absolutly HUGE. Thank you so much Archive.org, this has been a long time coming, and we truly do appriciate all the work that went into this.
This show is IMHO the best of 68, and in the top 5 pre 70 shows i own. I wasnt aware of the fact that the Jeff Beck Band opened the show, thanks for that info, does anyone know where I can find the Jeff Beck band set? Or if it even exists in circulation.
show gets a 5
quality gets a 3
overall a 4 (which is hard to get in my book, this is REALLY a good one kids, so go get it)

Darkstr56 (wka/the Darkest Star of all)

The sound quality is pretty atrocious, but the ear adjusts somewhat. If you are as big a Caution fan as I, you MUST have this show. 20+ minute Caution, says it all. 5 stars for the Caution.

The Dead's first official FE performance. Opening in a fury of stage fog and feedback Garcia once remarked how the Dead played their best shows at the Fillmore: "they pulled it out of us."

In the txt notes it states, "if somewhat oversaturated audience recording for the era",...i used to have a copy of this until it was stolen from my collection 14 years ago, and haven't found another copy til now. But a better copy, such as a soundboard or something close, certainly would be great news for this epic set of psychedelia rock that opens and closes with feedback [east coast style] and hi-lited by a 24 minute monster Caution. One for the ages.